As information technology (IT) continually advances, businesses and other institutions face significant challenges in protecting digital security. In this fast-moving environment, exciting career opportunities await business cybersecurity professionals ready to address the latest challenges in the information technology field.
Successful information technology professionals must understand the dynamics of the IT market. At the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, business cybersecurity faculty like Ali Vedadi, assistant professor of information management at the Haslam College of Business, prepare business cybersecurity students for the challenges in this emerging field. They expose students to cutting-edge research that analyzes user behavior and security technology trends in-depth.
Vedadi’s research focuses on information systems security’s behavioral and managerial aspects, security-as-a-service, and cloud security. Peer-reviewed outlets—including the Journal of the Association for Information Systems, Information & Management, Data Base for Advances in Information Systems, Information Resources Management Journal, and Computers & Security—have published Vedadi’s research. He teaches Foundations of Business Cybersecurity and Emerging Topics in Business Cybersecurity in the online Master of Science in Business Cybersecurity program at the University of Tennessee.
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Outside Influences: Understanding the Rise and Fall of Tech Trends
Users of technology products may find the array of complex choices they face overwhelming. To cope with their uncertainty, they may look at the purchasing behavior of others for assurance.
Professor Vedadi’s research exposes how certain user behaviors drive technological trends. Through his exploration of herd behavior, popularity information and communications deception, he illuminates the effects of user decision-making on the technology industry.
What is Herd Behavior?
By describing the motivations behind user decision-making, Vedadi’s research helps technology professionals anticipate suboptimal choices and improve technology adoption methods.
Vedadi’s research identifies herd behavior as a critical motivator influencing the rapid rise and fall of technology trends. The average user typically lacks the knowledge to make an informed purchasing decision when a product is complex (as are most technology products). In situations where they experience substantial uncertainty, shoppers are more likely to rely on the decisions of others, even when the popular choice contradicts the user’s own opinions.
An uncertain user who decides to “follow the herd” assumes that earlier adopters have done their due diligence and thoroughly researched the product before choosing the popular technology. The internet and social media make it easy to assess the popularity of emerging technologies, with readily available content from peers and influencers.
Herd behavior can significantly impact the tech industry. It can accelerate the acceptance of specific technologies but also generate misinformation that creates unrealistic expectations. In this way, this adoption behavior can drive what’s hot—and what’s not.
What is Popularity Information?
Popularity information—information creating the perception that a product is favored by other users—can also influence user behavior when they cannot access or understand other available information. Online vendors frequently employ this potent marketing tool.
In their paper exploring deception in online communications, Vedadi and his co-authors found that the presentation of popularity information can influence the extent to which others imitate decisions. They also determined a relationship between popularity information and media richness; the less rich the media, the greater the degree of imitation. The findings show that the presentation of information and media richness can impact the magnitude of users’ imitation, with text-only messaging proving more effective in eliciting popularity-information-driven decisions than more robust media (e.g., video).
How People Decide: Popular Opinion vs. Individual Thoughts
In the abstract of their research on herd behavior in information security decision-making, Vedadi and his co-authors challenge the statement that “[c]urrent information security behavior research assumes that lone individuals make a rational, informed decision about security technologies based on careful consideration of personally available information.” They found that—similar to complicated purchasing decisions—the popularity of alternatives and other users’ decisions influence complex security-related decisions.
In their research on how perceived uncertainty and herd behavior influence technology choice, Vedadi and a co-author outlined the three steps to herd behavior:
- Uncertainty—the perceived inability to predict something accurately due to a lack of information and an inability to determine the relevancy of information—is the primary trigger of herd behavior. They identified two further types of uncertainty that influenced herd behavior:
- Effect uncertainty: Users lack clarity on the potential benefits of a technology.
- Response uncertainty: Users doubt their ability to manage potential technology changes, like software upgrades.
- Discounting one’s own information becomes a necessary second step; uncertainty alone cannot incite herd behavior because the user can decide not to purchase at all. In discounting their own beliefs, the individual relies less on their own information and more on the decisions of others.
- Imitation occurs when the user embraces the popular action of others, even if it contradicts the user’s personal opinion.
Digging Deeper: How Uncertainty & Imitation Affect Tech Adoption
Vedadi’s experiments provide concrete examples of uncertainty and herd behavior affecting users. For their research on how perceived uncertainty and herd behavior influence technology choice, Vivaldi and his co-author recruited 362 participants with no experience with Blockchain Wallet.
The researchers randomly sorted participants into two groups and gave them both a short message encouraging them to use the product. One group also received additional information about the popularity of the product. The researchers then questioned participants to measure perceived uncertainty and potential herd behavior. The results “showed that in uncertain circumstances, imitation becomes an authentic alternative strategy through discounting one’s own information because users may believe that others have better and more complete information regarding a technology.”
Vedadi and Greer’s findings shed light on uncertainty and tech adoption. By understanding how users make IT-related security adoption decisions, researchers and professionals can find ways to improve the delivery of information and better motivate users to protect their data.
Why This Research Matters
While researchers have explored herd behavior and popularity information in other fields—including online music purchasing, software use and internet marketing—studies on information security like Vedadi’s represent new additions to the scholarly literature.
Vedadi has begun this exploration but acknowledges (with his co-author) that “numerous research questions in this area remain unanswered” and that there is still much to learn about the dynamics of user behavior and technology. With his deep understanding of user behavior and technology security, Vedadi plans to continue his work and grow this body of knowledge, helping tech industry leaders make decisions about their products and services, and how they educate customers.
Study Alongside Business & Cybersecurity Experts at UTK
The University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s online MS in Business Cybersecurity program enables students to learn from scholars and practitioners like Ali Vedadi, who conducts cutting-edge research in the information security field. Vedadi’s groundbreaking research into user behavior and technology fills a gap in existing literature, informing technology professionals on the importance of good decision-making in the turbulent digital security industry and inspiring future business cybersecurity leaders to grow their industry knowledge.
Learn more about the online MS in Business Cybersecurity program and its industry-leading faculty by contacting an enrollment advisor.